Celestia looked upon the assembled ponies, sipping her tea calmly and maintaining a relaxed facade. True, her horn was still burnt from her duel with the changeling queen, and she felt pings of pain whenever she used her magic, but Equestria and, more importantly, the ponies right here needed an unwavering leader to look up to. After all, Twilight and her friends had just discovered that one of their own was not who they thought she was, Cadance had only just been returned form her imprisonment, and Shining Armor was still coping with the fact he had nearly married a mind-warping shapeshifter.

Only Luna, sitting on Celestia's right, made any move to comfort the princess. An azure wing wrapped around her sister's shoulder, a quiet reminder that she did not have to face fate alone. Celestia gave her a thankful smile.

Then she cleared her throat. "Now then. I believe you all understand why I have gathered you here today?"

Twilight nodded. "The changeling that replaced Rainbow Dash. We need to find out where she is."

The only pegasus at the table took a breath before nodding. "I... I understand that she, or, um, he, was probably just acting under orders but.... I would really like to find Rainbow again. As soon as we can. If that's, um, possible..."

"Rest assured, Fluttershy, the retrieval of our dear friend is of utmost priority." Luna nodded. "Not only do we have much to thank her for personally, but from a purely strategic viewpoint losing the bearer of the element of loyalty is something that cannot be allowed. Captain? Do you have any progress to report regarding the interrogation?"

Shining Armor put a hoof to his brow with a sigh. After a moment of contemplation, he looked up to the other ponies sitting across the table. "Princess, I... I would like to request I be pulled from this assignment."

The diarch of the sun raised a brow at this proclamation. "May I inquire as to why?"

"I feel I am... too emotionally connected to the subject matter to be an impartial and fair questioner. I... allowed myself to physically handle the prisoner in response to her actions."

Cadance brought a hoof to her mouth, gently hugging her fiancee with a wing. "Oh, Shiny..."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

The captain couldn't meet Celestia's eyes. "I.... After she riled me up by insisting she was in a coma dream, I... slapped her."

There was a moment of dead silence.

Luna cleared her throat. "...Allow me to see if I understand this situation. You are a captain of the guard."

"Yes, your majesty."

"Your prisoner was being problematic."

"...Yes, your majesty."

"You... slapped her, presumably not causing any permanent damage?"

"Not that... I am aware of, your majesty."

Luna took a breath. "Am I to understand, then... by the laws of this era, slapping is considered a form of torture?"

Celestia sighed, bringing a hoof to her brow gently. "No, sister. It is the emotional intent and context of a slap that is being addressed here. Specifically that it is demeaning and unfair to the prisoner in question."

"I thought that was the definition of torture in this era," the night princess said, uncomprehending. "Certainly the rack is demeaning and unfair."

Even more confusion formed on Luna's face. "But... what of the shop on Platinum road? I noticed a lot of late-night customers purchasing what could be constituted as dungeon equipment but when I investigated they assured me that it was not considered against the law--"

Rarity blushed. "Ah, if you are referring to, well, the Crop... those items are usually used intimately."

"Oh. So, the Saddle Arabian methods no longer qualify as torture?"

"Only if all participants are willing," Celestia explained with a sigh. "There's a fairly large subculture, actually..."

"Really? Well I must say I am impressed! The fact that so many ponies are willing to agree to--"

"Ah think we're getten' off-topic!" Applejack interrupted, managing to keep her face from going entirely red. "What Ah want to know is how we plan ta get that changeling ta tell us where Dash is!"

"Apparently slapping is out of the question," Luna grumbled. "I"m still not sure why."

"Why don't we just ask her?" Pinkie offered brightly.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Darling, I doubt an espionage agent is simply going to answer questions."

"Why not? It's not like she can pretend to be Rainbow Dash anymore. We just promise her a lifelong supply of cupcakes and she'll answer anything!" Pinkie tapped her chin. "Unless she doesn't like cupcakes. She could be a muffin sort of Changeling. Or maybe scones."

"Offering leniency in return for cooperation..." Celestia nodded. "I believe you have a point there. Most ponies respond better to kindness than to threats."

"That thang ain't no pony," Applejack pointed out.

"She's not a thing either," Fluttershy replied. "She's a person.... I mean, she did something very mean but we can't just disrespect her." She rubbed her hoof awkwardly. "Rainbow... Rainbow is my oldest friend. But I don't think even she would want us to treat something that could talk like an animal."

The farmer let her head fall. "Ah'm just sayen'... them Changelings are natural born liars."

"Which is why we will not fall to their level," Luna stated calmly. "I have learned from my own mistakes; I will not let ponykind reduce itself out of fear."

"Well said." Celestia nodded, giving her sister a thankful smile. "I do not suggest releasing her, but... attempting to befriend this infiltrator would be better in the long run. We literally know next to nothing about her people; one invasion cannot be allowed to sour our relationship with an entire race. Especially one that so expertly subdued Canterlot."

Shining Armor sighed. "In all honesty, Princess... that invasion had me almost become the personal pet and toy of their leader. I don't think I could possibly befriend any changeling."

The alicorn considered his words. "...Captain. You have had the most experience with changelings to date. I cannot in good conscience remove you entirely from this effort; you are far too valuable."

"I... understand."

Celestia smiled gently. "For that reason I insist that you choose the pony who will be in charge of interrogations of the prisoner from now on."

***

Silence.

Whispers in the leaves.

And then....

"....tch...."

Her eyes opened.

"...hng. Hff." She rose on three unsteady legs, keeping the fourth in the air. Her gaze drifted beyond the canopy, to the white city on the mountain.

"Hmmm."

A green fire enveloped the form. They knew now. Nothing was left to her but vengeance.

***

Twilight Sparkle opened the dungeon door cautiously, levitating a clipboard and quill as she peered into the cell. Her eyes widened at what she saw; the changeling had simply curled up on the floor, back to the unicorn.

"...um. Hello."

The changeling's ears perked for a second. It was the only motion she made, before returning to inactivity.

"...My name is Twilight Sparkle. What's yours? Or, um, do you even have a name?"

"I don't know." The changeling's voice was unusually like Rainbow's, but with an odd flanging effect. She laid absolutely still as she spoke.

"You don't know?" Twilight began scribbling notes on her clipboard. "Is it because of some... cultural thing? You haven't earned your name yet?"

"I don't know."

The unicorn shook her head. This wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be... actually, she'd expected some sort of reaction. "I've... been told that your previous int--questioner raised his hoof against you. Are you hurt?"

"...I don't think so. It doesn't hurt much, anyway." The changeling finally moved, brushing her cheek with a hoof. "It's more like a bruise than anything."

"I... apologize for that."

"He had every right. His bride was replaced by a bug who sabotaged his relationship with his sister and then brainwashed him."

Twilight blinked. She hadn't expected the changeling to forgive her brother so quickly... or to even justify it. In fact, that the changeling understood the situation at all was a bit alarming... although, being briefed on the situation before being inserted made sense.

"...soooo, I understand you changelings need to eat love. How does that work?"

"I don't know."

And back to the non-responsiveness. The scholar jotted down a note at this behavior, trying to conceive of a reason for it. "Well, I hope we become good enough friends that you don't starve, anyway."

"No you don't."

The sheer despairing confidence in that reply was enough to raise the hairs on Twilight's neck. "Of... of course I do! I mean, there's so much we could learn from--"

Slowly, Twilight reached out, putting a purple hoof on the changeling's shoulder. "Look, if... if you don't want to answer right now, I guess that's fine--"

"I THOUGHT I WAS HER!"

The unicorn snapped back as the Changeling whirled to face her, black face wet with tears. "Right up until I woke up in this cell, I thought I was Rainbow Dash! I don't even know when I replaced her! I want to tell you where she is, because you deserve the real Rainbow, but I just don't know! I don't know anything about what that bug planned, I don't know anything about being a changeling, I don't even know who I am! I JUST! DON'T! KNOW!"

She curled up again. "I just... d-d-don't... know...."

Twilight Sparkle stared at her as she sobbed, silently stroking her tail. This... this was cruelty on a level she could not comprehend. To rob anypony... anybody of their identity just so they could play a part in some grander scheme sickened her.

After a moment, she stepped forward. "Listen... maybe you don't know. But... I promise, I'll help you."

"More than that, I want to find out who did this to you and why. You... know how good I am at research," Twilight admitted reluctantly. "Let's find out who you are... let's find out together, okay?"

The changeling was silent for a moment.

Then she took a deep breath and raised her head. "...okay. Together."

Author's Note:

If you are reading this story, prepare to be recruited. Recruited, that is, into this group. While it has potential it lacks... a certain, shall we say, polish. YOUR TASK! Is to go through all of FIMfic, find stories that have anypony becoming or secretly being a changeling, and sort the them into the appropriate files.

Very nice!Twilight is now determined to research to determine how to fix CHangeling Rainbow's memories, meaning she will research memory modification magic...meaning she'll find out how to recognize when such spells were applied, and how much memory has actually been modified...Or even if she doesn't and just removes the memory spell, the only memories CHangeling Rainbow will lose will be from before the Rainboom, which will tell Twilight that the rest are genuine memories-Speaking of genuine memories, though, isn't that what the spell she used during the Discord arc is for? She knows that Changeling Rainbow has had her memory altered. Why not just use that memory spell to restore her original memories...which would lead to her knowledge of being a changeling, and her own perspective on the events of the prologue. At which point, every pony will realise that the Rainbow they've been friends with all this time IS the changeling, at which point they'll just figure out how to get used to this side of their friend and, given how they usually are, will manage it...and the only one who might have some serious issues about all of this is Fluttershy, the only pony to have known Rainbow before the switch. Oh, and Rainbow's parents.

@bottlecap first off on my phone so can't "reply"I feel sorry for you but I don't think you realize how bad it is for me. I read books with serve rap hundred pages in a combined time of 4-5 hours. I've read every book I have 15 at least 3-4 times my life is truly miserable I love to read but read so damn fast and remember it all so well that the enjoyment is limited THANK GOD FOR FIMFICTION :D

One of the weaknesses of the "X is actually a Changeling" premise is that so long as "X" is still "X", then the conflict and tension generated from X being a changeling dissipate as soon the others realize that X is still the X they know and love. Hence the hints of continued Chrysalis machinations in this chapter, so that an external conflict related to Dash being a changeling can take over when the others have accepted Dash being the real Rainbow as far as anybody save maybe Fluttershy is concerned, depending on how well she knew Dash before the race.

2209688Indeed, I hate to be "that gent", but most folks would prefer one ten-thousand word chapter a week over five two-thousand word ones, ensuring more satisfying pacing and hopefully a higher standard of self-checking and editing. Plus, it helps to reduce the impression that you're making this all up as you go along, which is just a recipe for disaster.

Rather than launching straight into the interrogation, everyone takes a moment to step back and figure out the best way to approach the situation?

And they reasonably conclude that, on a creature that feeds on love, carrots will probably work better than sticks?

And they don't immediately accept the changeling as the real Rainbow Dash when presented with flimsy evidence that implies that the changeling might possibly at some point have been the Rainbow Dash they knew?

You keep this up, and you just may fast-track your story onto my Favorites list.

2209721That's a thought, but the problem that enters is that her memories haven't really been altered: Rainbow Dash is literally all she's ever known. It might work to confirm that the memories up to immediately after the Rainboom are implanted, and confirm that everything that happened after that was actually her, but since her memory hasn't actually been altered, there aren't any changes the spell can undo.

Very nice work, you continue to provide a rock solid story with fantastic emotional depth and I am very much looking forwards to reading more of this in the future. I just hope it does not fail to show me the next update like it did with the last one.

I thought the beginning with their talk de-railing into BDSM was a little farcical compared to the rest of the story, though it did make me chuckle. Thank you for letting Shining Armor realize that hitting a prisoner was a bad thing to do (and considering what he just went through, I don't blame him from being as riled up as he was.)

The second part of this update tugged at my feels. Tugged them hard. I think the heart-rending scenes are, thus far, the strongest suit of this story.

2211061 I have no idea if she's been dumped by Lyra. Their relationship seems to vary from author to author, they might simply be friends in this universe! What I do know is that being outed as a changeling would have ruined her cushy life in Ponyville.

Solution one: the rainboom. Letting her create a rainboom in her changeling form or even as rainbow dash would prove that she is the real RD. problem: they might see her as only a really fast changeling or think that you get the pony your impersonating's abilities. That is however easily fixed with trying to be twilight and failing.

Solution two: the elements of harmony. Just strap the loyalty element on her and see if it works properly. Problem: she might be to emotionally shaken and confused to use it

2194246That awkward feeling, when your entire rant is rendered invalid by the story's progress...You did that on purpose, didn't ya?Nah, just kidding! Great read! And not because I wrote what I wrote.Keep up the good work!

okay im happy now after seeing all the speed readers. took me like 20 min to read this chapter i will admit its a slow speed thus i enjoy the story longer but that also means i practically memorise the plot destroying any reread value. (still trying to forget some fics from 7 years ago so i can read them again.(pre fimfiction days))now that that's out of the way my god the feels keep going like this and i may actually start to cry for rainbow, oh wait there it is, nope wait false alarm, darn so close too anyway if you do get me to cry this will be among only i think i'm at 7 fics to do so. i hate being apathetic.for now i rate this 6 out of 10 it is a good story and its rank is going up but i too would like some longer chapters. and more feels, please make me feel alive again instead of an emotionless shell.

This story....... the first chapter gave me the feels. This chapter made me think that some stuff shud have been said but it wasn't. All I can say is. GIVE ME MOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! RIGHT NOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!! Eep. Ummm. If that's not too much to ask.